We kept Kel and her little ones from Melbourne Minor busy in the city this weekend with a trip to the Arts Centre and the ACMI. We have been looking forward to finding out about the new kid friendly exhibition at the ACMI - Wallace & Gromit and Friends: The Magic of Aardman since it opened! So glad to hear from Kel and Mena that it was very interesting and lots of fun creating their very own animation clip. Thank you Kel for the review and pics xo Catherine

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

The Magic or Aardman really brings the magic! There is so much to see from original sketches, watercolours and models all the way up to full sets, finished movies playing and claymation workshops.

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

The exhibition covers the full career of the prolific creators so you can see behind the scenes of Wallace and Gromit but also the Pirates, the Were Rabbit as well as early works and an upcoming film still in production.

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

There is plenty to discover as you walk around and the kids loved finding little peeking holes with different scenes playing. The models have been set up with children in mind as well with no problems viewing the elaborately created scenes.

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Animations are scattered throughout to show the finished product and work well to entertain children who are not won over by the sketches and production stories.

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

After all that, you are sure to be inspired to create something yourself, as we were, so you can grab some clay and have a go at making a stop motion claymation in the studio. ACMI staff will help you with the tech, you just need to make your characters and whip up a story. The exhibition is well suited to families and everything is fully accessible.

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

Photo credit: @melbourneminor

The exhibition highlights over 350 objects from Aardman’s most amazing animations, as well as extracts of Aardman’s most famous films selected from more than 60 shorts and features and so much more!

Wallace & Gromit and Friends: The Magic of Aardman is on now at the ACMI at Fed Square until the Monday 29th of January, for more information, head to the ACMI website.